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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Most US aid to Egypt goes to military - Telegraph

The US has given Egypt an average of $2bn annually since 1979, much of it in military aid, according to the Congressional Research Service. The combined total makes Egypt the second largest recipient of US aid after Israel.

The White House said on Friday it would review US aid to Egypt based on events in the coming days amid mass protests aimed at ending President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Here are some facts about the aid:

- In 2010, $1.3bn went to strengthen Egyptian forces versus $250m in economic aid. Another $1.9m went for training meant to bolster long-term US-Egyptian military cooperation. Egypt also receives hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of excess military hardware annually from the Pentagon.

- The Obama administration has asked Congress to approve similar sums for the 2011 fiscal year.